Whether you are using standard serial ports or intelligent serial boards, multitasking enables you to run several nodes on a single computer. This type of setup may seem complicated at first, but after reading this explanation the majority of your questions about setting up a multi-node system should be answered.

• 80386 (or better) based computer with 1 megabyte of memory for each node.
• One serial port for each modem you plan to use per machine. If you are using standard serial ports, use serial ports with NS16550AFN UARTs. Each standard serial port must use a unique base address and unique IRQ. If you are using any other type of serial board (such as an intelligent Arnet or DigiBoard card), make sure it is supported by the multiport version of PCBoard before purchasing.
• Floppy drive (5 1/4“ or 3 1/2”)
• Hard drive
• Monitor and video card
• Modem for each phone line

NOTE: If you are going to be using OS/2 for your multitasker and you have the multiport version of PCBoard, you cannot make use of the COMMTSR software because it is a DOS device driver. This means that under OS/2 you are limited to using standard COM ports that use unique base address and IRQ settings.

• MS-DOS (V3.3 or higher)
• Multitasking Software (e.g., DESQview or Windows)
• PCBoard

There are a few changes you will likely have to make to your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS system files. You should already have an AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS for your system. This section details what you must have in these files in order to properly run a multinode setup using multitasking software. If you have other items in these files, do not worry as they may be necessary for your particular system (hardware drivers, etc.)

At this point, make sure you have the following items in your CONFIG.SYS:

DEVICE=[memory manager] [optional parameters]
DEVICE=[disk cache program]
FILES=nn
BUFFERS=nn
STACKS=0,0
SHELL=C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM C:\DOS\ /E:512 /P
FCBS=n,n (This line is optional)

DEVICE=[memory manager]:

On this line load your memory manager (e.g., QEMM, 386MAX, HIMEM.SYS, etc.) The installation program for your memory manager will place this line in your CONFIG.SYS. If not, please consult the instructions for your memory manager for proper installation instructions. Almost every memory manager has parameters you can use to customize what memory will be used. Unless you have a good reason to specify different parameters, leave them as is. If you do have to make changes, be sure to consult your manual.

DEVICE=[disk cache program]:

A good disk cache will do wonders for your system performance. A disk cache is similar to a dynamic ram disk. Instead of reserving memory and storing files in memory, a disk cache stores the most frequently accessed data in memory. If a program requests a read from disk and the data is in the disk cache, your machine will pull the data from the cache rather than the hard disk. If your system does not already have a disk cache installed, check your DOS manual to see if one is included with your package.

Some disk caches load in AUTOEXEC.BAT rather than CONFIG.SYS. Check the manual for your disk cache to see if the disk cache needs to be loaded in AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS.

You may be asking “Why not use a ram disk instead of a disk cache?” If you use a ram disk instead of a disk cache, you are more likely to lose data if the power goes down. Additionally, you may not really be putting the files in the ram disk which will give the biggest performance boost to your system. A ram disk does is advantageous if you use a program which creates numerous temporary files. The best bet is to use a disk cache instead of a ram disk.

FILES=nn:

On this line replace nn with 25 multiplied by the number of nodes you plan to run. For example, if you are planning on running 3 nodes on your machine, set this value to 75 (25*3).

BUFFERS=nn:

For optimum performance, this value should be set to equal the size of your hard disk clusters. The easiest way to determine what your hard disk cluster is to run CHKDSK. You will see a line that says nnnn bytes in each allocation unit The number at the beginning of that line is how big your cluster size is for the drive you ran CHKDSK on. To determine how many kilobytes there are in each allocation unit, divide the number of bytes by 1024. For example, if your hard disk cluster size is 2048 bytes, use BUFFERS=4. Since each buffer is 512 bytes, four buffers would equal 2048 bytes which is your desired setting.

All of the buffer recommendations assume you are using a disk cache. If you are not using a disk cache, increase the number of buffers to help make up for the lack of a disk cache. A setting of BUFFERS=20 or BUFFERS=30 might be an appropriate setting for this situation.

STACKS=0,0:

If you do not already have a STACKS= line in your CONFIG.SYS file, add this line to it. This line is necessary when running multitasking software. By making this change you will also free up additional memory. On some systems, using no interrupt stacks may cause lockups or other unexplained problems. If you are experiencing any strange problems or your system becomes unstable, try setting your STACKS= statement to 9,128.

FCBS=n,n:

FCBs were only used in older DOS programs. If you are not running old programs that use FCBs, you may be able to omit this line. The first parameter is the number of FCBs you want, and the second number is the number to lock. If you do not need FCBs, set this to 1,0 and free up even more memory for your multitasker.

SHELL=C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM:

Increases the available environment space to 512 bytes. This should be plenty of room for the environment variables PCBoard will create along with any other variables you or any other programs you run may create.

The changes outlined in this section are different for OS/2 because you will change the settings for one window rather than the entire system. For additional information, see Setting Up Your Nodes Under A Specific Multitasker.

The path to locate your PCBoard executable and utilities must be in your PATH= statement (e.g., PATH=C:\DOS;C:\PCB).

Make sure SHARE.EXE is being loaded inside your AUTOEXEC.BAT. Reports have indicated that loading SHARE in high memory can slow system performance. It is up to you whether you load it in high memory or in conventional memory. The actual difference in system performance is very small.

Add a line at the end of your AUTOEXEC.BAT that will load your multitasker. Whatever multitasker you choose it should be able to automatically bring up your nodes when you load your multitasker. If your multitasker does not have this ability, your system will not be able to load the nodes automatically if your machine gets rebooted. Examples on how to load your nodes automatically are provided for DESQview, Microsoft Windows and OS/2 in Automatically Loading Your Nodes at Bootup later in this section.

NOTE: If you are using OS/2 as your multitasker, skip items 2 and 3 as they really do not apply to the OS/2 operating system.

An example AUTOEXEC.BAT might look like the following:

@ECHO OFF
C:\DOS\SHARE.EXE
PATH=C:\PCB;C:\DOS;C:\UTILITY
PROMPT=$P$G

If you are using DESQview, add the following lines to your AUTOEXEC.BAT:

CD\DV
DV

If you are using Windows, add these two lines:

CD\WINDOWS
WIN

Now that you have modified AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS you are ready to install additional PCBoard nodes.

If you have not already installed PCBoard, refer to the Installation chapter in this manual before proceeding. Next, get all of your files created and make sure that the single node is running properly. It will make a multiple node setup much easier. For this section we will assume you installed PCBoard in the C:\PCB\ subdirectory.

You need to create a separate subdirectory for each PCBoard node you plan to run. For node 1, create a subdirectory off of your C:\PCB\ subdirectory and call it NODE1. To do this, change to the C:\PCB\ subdirectory and type MD NODE1. Do this for each node you want to add (e.g., for node 3's subdirectory you would type MD NODE3). From here on, these subdirectories will be referred to as node subdirectories.

You should have a directory structure that resembles the following:

C:\PCB
+----NODE1
+----NODE2
+----NODE3
+----NODE4

Next, copy the following files from the C:\PCB subdirectory into each node directory:

BOARD.BAT
PCBERR.OLD
PCBOARD.DAT
REMOTE.SYS

For example, you can copy BOARD.BAT from the C:\PCB directory to your node 1 subdirectory by typing:

COPY C:\PCB\BOARD.BAT C:\PCB\NODE1

Repeat this step for each file and each node. Once you have copied the above list of files to each of the NODE subdirectories, delete the files listed from the C:\PCB subdirectory. If you do not delete these files, there is the chance you could load a node using the wrong setup files.

In your PCBoard setup you will have to modify a few items for proper operation. This section details some changes you will want to your configuration using PCBSetup and also how you should modify the BOARD.BAT files you copied to each node subdirectory.

There are a few setup items which you may wish to change if you are running under a multitasking environment. Change to each node subdirectory and execute PCBSETUP.EXE. Once PCBSetup is loaded, perform the following steps:

In PCBSetup > Node Configuration change the node number found on this screen to reflect the number you want to assign to this node. Remember, each node must have a unique node number. In addition, answer Y to the Running a Network / Multitasker System question.

Whenever possible, specify a path to a file. This is inclusive of batch files and your setup of PCBoard in general. This can slightly enhance the speed of your system and it can make it less complex.

In PCBSetup > File Locations > Configuration Files make sure PCBPROT.DAT contains the path to locate the file. For example: C:\PCB\PCBPROT.DAT. In a default PCBoard setup, PCBPROT.DAT is entered on the line. Because no path is specified, it will cause problems in your multiple node setup. By changing all nodes to read one PCBPROT.DAT file, you will find that adding, changing, or deleting protocols will become a lot easier.

Like the entry for PCBPROT.DAT in File Locations > Configuration Files, make sure the entry for your Color Definition File contains the full path and filename. The default configuration will assume the file will be found in the default subdirectory. By changing all nodes to point to the same file, your file directories will be colored on-the-fly. If you finish setting up all of your nodes and one or more of your nodes do not display your file directories in color, you need to run PCBSetup from that node directory and verify that a valid PCBFILER.DEF file.

Verify that all of the options and file locations in menu options A-H from the PCBSetup Main Menu contain the proper values and settings that you desire for each node. Normally you will be concerned most with file locations, but you may also want to change the way that a particular node operates as well. You should not concern yourself with the conference configuration at this time because all of that information is contained in the CNAMES file you specify in PCBSetup > File Locations > System Files.

When you have completed steps 1 through 5, exit PCBSetup saving your changes as you exit.

The default BOARD.BAT in each node's directory resembles the following:

@echo off
c: cd\pcb
set DSZLOG=PCBDSZ.LOG
if exist REMOTE.BAT rename REMOTE.BAT REMOTE.SYS
if exist DOOR.BAT del DOOR.BAT
if exist ENDPCB del ENDPCB
PCBOARD
if exist REMOTE.BAT REMOTE
if exist DOOR.BAT DOOR
if exist EVENT.BAT EVENT
if exist ENDPCB goto end
board
:end

You will need to modify each node's BOARD.BAT file so that the batch file changes to the subdirectory where the node resides. In addition, there are several new lines that can be added to aid you in your multitasking configuration. For example, node 1's new batch file will look like the following (the highlighted items will be explained in the following sections):

@echo off
C:
cd\PCB\NODE1
C:\DV\DVANSI
set COMBASE=bbb
set COMIRQ=i
set PORT=p
set DSZLOG=PCBDSZ.LOG
if exist REMOTE.BAT rename REMOTE.BAT REMOTE.SYS
if exist DOOR.BAT del DOOR.BAT
if exist ENDPCB del ENDPCB
PCBOARD
if exist REMOTE.BAT REMOTE
if exist DOOR.BAT DOOR
if exist EVENT.BAT EVENT
if exist ENDPCB goto end
board
:end
exit

Notice the cd\PCB\NODE1 line towards the top of the BOARD.BAT file. This line is used to change the current subdirectory to the subdirectory you have defined as the node subdirectory. In node 1's case, this directory is \PCB\NODE1. As you are setting up the rest of the nodes, change this line in the batch file so it points to the appropriate node subdirectory. For example, if you are setting up the batch file for node 2, change the line to read cd\PCB\NODE2.

In the example, we mentioned there would be several new lines added to your BOARD.BAT file. The following describes each of the new lines in detail.

C:\DV\DVANSI:

This line is only necessary if you are using DESQview as your multitasker. The DVANSI program is an ANSI driver which is more friendly to DESQview.

set COMBASE: This command sets an environment variable you can use in your batch files to reference the base address for the COM port. The value bbb is the three digit hexadecimal base address for the COM port (e.g., 3f8, 2f8, 3e8, 2e8). This variable will prove extremely useful when you start installing external programs (doors, protocols, etc.) and if you use non-standard COM ports. If you are using the COMM-TSR driver that comes with the multiport version of PCBoard or if you are using only COM1 and/or COM2 as your serial ports, omit this line.

set COMIRQ: This line creates an environment variable called COMIRQ which will store the IRQ the node will use. The value i is the IRQ number for the COM port. Like the COMBASE environment variable, this environment variable will be indispensable when you start configuring third-party programs. If you are using the COMM-TSR driver that comes with the multiport version of PCBoard or if you are using only COM1 and/or COM2 as your serial ports, omit this line.

set PORT: This line will create a variable called PORT which will hold the number of the COM port you are using for the node. The value p is the port number you defined in PCBSetup | Modem Information | Modem Setup. You can use this variable from any batch file making it especially useful when configuring third-party programs. If you are using the multiport version of PCBoard, this port refers to the FOSSIL port number, not the actual port number on the serial board..

exit: Adding this line will assure that when you exit to DOS through the call-waiting screen the window on your multitasker will close. If you wish for it to stay open, you should make sure you do not add this line and also make sure you setup your multitasker so it does not close the window upon completion of the program.

The instructions that follow detail the steps you need to take in order to add nodes to DESQview, Windows 3.1, and OS/2. This first section details how to setup the PIF files for both DESQview and Windows 3.x. This same section also details how to setup the icon for your nodes under OS/2. The next section details how to automatically load your nodes each time you you run your multitasker. Each section also lists any special considerations you should be aware of with each multitasker. The other information provided throughout this section (except where appropriately titled) is independent of the multitasker you are using.

Once you have followed the instructions detailed in the specific section for the multitasker you are using, proceed to the section entitled Automatically Loading Your Nodes at Bootup.

Before proceeding with a setup under DESQview you should first become familiar with how to add programs in your DESQview environment if you are not already familiar with that topic.

To configure your nodes to run under DESQview, load the setup program for DESQview. To do this, change to your DESQview directory and at the DOS prompt type SETUP and press ENTER. Next, select Performance. You screen should resemble the following:

              +1--Advanced-Setup:-Performance----------+
              |                                        |
              |  Task Processing Time (in Clock Ticks) |
              |            Foreground:    2            |
              |            Background:    2            |
              |                                        |
              |  Memory Usage (in K)                   |
              |      Common Memory:      17            |
              |      DOS Buffer for EMS:  4            |
              |                                        |
              |  Optimize communications?    (Y/N): N  |
              |  Allow swapping of programs? (Y/N): N  |
              |  Manage printer contention?  (Y/N): N  |
              |                                        |
              |           Next field     Tab           |
              |           Backup menu    Esc           |
              |           DONE           <-+           |
              |                                        |
              +----------------------------------------+

Foreground and Background Processing Time:

It is very important that you set the foreground and background ticks to an equal value. Otherwise, your system will likely suffer a performance degradation which callers may perceive as an intermittent, jerking display. The exact value for these two settings varies, depending on how many nodes you are running and the processing speed of your computer. Avoid setting these values to 1, which may result in sluggish system performance. You may experiment with this value to see which works best on your machine, though using 2 or 3 seems to be the best choice.

Two of the most important settings you will change are Optimize Communications and Manage printer contention. Set both of these to N to help avoid possible system lockups.

Next, you need to add each of the nodes to your DESQview menu so you can bring up a node with just a couple of keystrokes.
To add each node to the DESQview menu, do the following:

• Select Open Window from the DESQview main menu
• Select Add Program
• Select Other (Add program not found in list). You will be asked to specify a path to the program. Supply a node directory for each program you add. For example, enter C:\PCB\NODE1, C:\PCB\NODE2, etc.

Once you have typed in a path you will be taken to the Add a Program screen where you will edit the PIF file for this program. You will need to go through this procedure for each node you plan to run. The two following screen captures will show you the recommended PIF settings for your first node:

+Add-a-Program-----------------------------------------------------------+
|                      Specify Program Information                       |
|                                                                        |
| Program Name............: Node 1                                       |
|                                                                        |
| Keys to Use on Open Menu: N1                   Memory Size (in K): 450 |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Program...: C:\PCB\NODE1\BOARD.BAT                                     |
|                                                                        |
| Parameters:                                                            |
|                                                                        |
| Directory.: C:\PCB\NODE1                                               |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Options:                                                               |
|               Writes text directly to screen.......: [Y]               |
|               Displays graphics information........: [N]               |
|               Virtualize text/graphics (Y,N,T).....: [T]               |
|               Uses serial ports (Y,N,1,2)..........: [Y]               |
|               Requires floppy diskette.............: [N]               |
|                                                                        |
|  Press F1 for advanced options            Press <-+ when you are DONE  |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

There are four fields you should pay special attention to in this setup screen:

Program Name:

You can enter anything you wish here as it is the title that will be displayed on your window. You may want to enter something like NODE 1 or NODE 2. It does not matter what name you wish to have displayed as your window title. Make sure whatever you enter is unique for each so you can easily identify your windows when they are displayed on the screen or when you switch to them. If they all said Alphabet BBS, you will have a hard time discerning which node is which on your screen.

Keys to Open:

In this field enter the two keys which will be used to open the window from the DESQview menu. See your manual for more information. The keys you choose must be unique. You may want to enter something like N1 or N2 to distinguish between your node numbers.

Program:

In this field, enter the name of the program you wish to run. You should always run BOARD.BAT when loading PCBoard and since each node has a different BOARD.BAT, you must change what you enter for each of your nodes (e.g., C:\PCB\NODE1\BOARD.BAT, C:\PCB\NODE2\BOARD.BAT, etc.).

Directory:

This field should point to the node subdirectory for each node. For example, in node 2's PIF file, enter C:\PCB\NODE2 in this field. For node 3's PIF file, enter C:\PCB\NODE3.

When you are finished editing the first screen, press F1 for advanced options. You will be presented with another screen. When you are finished filling in the values for this screen, your screen should resemble the screen on the following page.

+Add-a-Program----------------------------------------------------------------+
|                 Specify Program Information Advanced Options                |
|                                                                             |
| System Memory (in K).......:   0   Maximum Program Memory Size (in K)..:    |
|                                                                             |
| Script Buffer Size.......:     0   Maximum Expanded Memory Size (in K):     |
|                                                                             |
| Text Pages: 1  Graphics Pages: 0   Initial Mode:       Interrupts: 00 to FF |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Window Position:                                                            |
|    Maximum Height:  25       Starting Height:           Starting Row...:    |
|    Maximum Width.:  80       Starting Width.:           Starting Column:    |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                Shared Program                               |
| Pathname..:                                                                 |
| Data......:                                                                 |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Close on exit (Y,N,blank)......: [N] Uses its own colors..............: [Y] |
| Allow Close Window command.....: [N] Runs in background (Y,N,blank)...: [Y] |
| Uses math coprocessor..........: [N] Keyboard conflict (0-F)..........: [0] |
| Share CPU when foreground......: [Y] Share EGA when foreground/zoomed.: [N] |
| Can be swapped out (Y,N,blank).: [N] Protection level (0-3)...........: [0] |
|                                                                             |
|  Press F1 for standard options                 Press <-+ when you are DONE  |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

System Memory:

You should enter 0 in this field unless you are running a program written specifically for DESQview.

Script Buffer:

Most likely, you will not be using DESQview scripts inside of this window. You can save additional memory by entering 0 in this field.

Close on Exit:

If you elected to add the exit line at the end of your BOARD.BAT file, no matter what you select here, the window will always close when you select DOS - Busy or DOS - Not Busy from the call waiting screen. If you did not add the exit statement, enter Y in this field. If you enter Y in this field, the window will close when you select DOS - Busy or DOS - Not Busy. If you enter N instead, the window will stay open at a DOS prompt when you exit PCBoard.

Uses own colors:

Entering Y in this field will allow PCBoard to set the colors for the window rather than using DESQview's default colors.

Allow Close:

Entering N in this field will not allow you to select Close Window command to be executed from the DESQview menu. Instead, you must properly exit the program or reboot the window to close the window. Remember, it is always best to properly exit a program whenever possible.

Runs in background:

In this field, enter a Y on all dial-in nodes and an N on any local maintenance nodes you may have. Setting any local nodes to not be active in the background can save precious processor time in case you accidentally leave your maintenance node running in the background.

Uses Math Coprocessor:

Enter an N in this field since PCBoard does not utilize any math coprocessors. You will save precious memory and may even slightly improve performance.

Can be swapped:

In this field, enter an N for any PIFs you are setting up for communications programs (such as PCBoard). If you set this field to Y, it may eventually cause a hard system lock.

In order to run multiple nodes under Windows you will need to create a PIF file for each node. It is assumed you have some knowledge on how to create a PIF file under Windows. If this area is new to you, it is suggested you first read the section in your Windows manual detailing how to create a PIF file before continuing with your configuration.

While you are in the Windows environment, load the PIF editor. This program will be used to create the PIF files for each node. Create a new PIF file. When you have finished filling in the required information on the first screen of your PIF file, it should resemble the following:

     +-+----------------------------------------------------------+
     |-|                                                          |
     +-+----------------------------------------------------------+
     | File  Mode  Help                                           |
     +------------------------------------------------------------+
     | Program Filename:     C:\PCB\NODE1\BOARD.BAT               |
     |                                                            |
     | Window Title:         NODE1                                |
     |                                                            |
     | Optional Parameters:                                       |
     |                                                            |
     | Start-up Directory:   C:\PCB\NODE1                         |
     |                                                            |
     | Video Memory:     * Text   O Low Graphics   O High Graphics|
     | Memory Requirements:  KB Require   450  KB Desired   640   |
     |                                                            |
     | EMS Memory:           KB Required    0  KB Limit     400   |
     | XMS Memory:           KB Required    0  KB Limit     400   |
     |                                                            |
     | Display Usage:  * Full Screen    Execution:   * Background |
     |                 O Windowed                    O Exclusive  |
     |                                                            |
     | * Close Window on Exit        Advanced                     |
     +------------------------------------------------------------+
     | Press F1 for help on Program Filename                      |
     +------------------------------------------------------------+

Program Filename:

In this field, enter the name of the program you wish to run. You should always run BOARD.BAT when loading PCBoard. If you do not, your door programs, events, and remote drops to DOS will not run. The batch file you enter in this field will change for each node because you load a different BOARD.BAT for each node. For example, node 2's PIF file will contain C:\PCB\NODE2\BOARD.BAT.

Window Title:

You may enter anything you wish here as it is the title displayed on your window. You may want to enter something like NODE 1 or NODE 2. It does not matter what name you wish to have displayed as your window title. Make sure the title you enter is unique for each node so you can easily identify your windows when they are displayed on the screen or when you switch to them. If they all are titled Alphabet BBS, you will have a hard time discerning which node is which on your screen.

Start-up Directory:

In this field, enter the node subdirectory. For example, node 2's PIF file will contain C:\PCB\NODE2 in this field. For node 3's PIF file, enter C:\PCB\NODE3.

Display Usage-Full Screen:

Mark this setting so each node runs in full-screen mode rather than in windowed mode. When a non-Windows application is running full-screen, the overhead of virtualizing the screen in a graphical window is eliminated giving you better system performance.

Close Window on Exit:

If you elected to add the exit line at the end of your BOARD.BAT file, no matter what you select here the window will always close when you select DOS - Busy or DOS - Not Busy from the call waiting screen. If you did not add the exit statement, entering Y in this field will cause the window to close when you select DOS - Busy or DOS - Not Busy. If you enter N in this field, the window will remain at a DOS prompt when you quit PCBoard.

You should now click the Advanced button to get to the second screen for your PIF file. When you have finished filling in the requested information, your screen should resemble the following:

   +-+---------------------------------------------------------------+
   |-|                     Advanced Options                          |
   +-+---------------------------------------------------------------+
   |+ Multitasking Options -----------------------------+            |
   ||Background Priority:  100  Foreground Priority: 100|            |
   ||                  * Detect Idle Time               |            |
   |+---------------------------------------------------+            |
   |+ Memory Options ---------------------------------------------+  |
   ||    O EMS Memory Locked            O XMS Memory Locked       |  |
   ||    * Uses High Memory Area        O Lock Application Memory |  |
   |+-------------------------------------------------------------+  |
   |+ Display Options --------------------------------------------+  |
   ||Monitor Ports:     O Text   O Low Graphics  O High Graphics  |  |
   ||              * Emulate Text Mode    O Retain Video Memory   |  |
   |+-------------------------------------------------------------+  |
   |+-------------------------------------------------------------+  |
   ||* Allow Fast Paste                O Allow Close When Active  |  |
   ||Reserve Shortcut Keys: O Alt+Tab   O Alt+Esc    O Ctrl+Esc   |  |
   ||                       O PrtSc     O Alt+PrtSc  O Alt+Space  |  |
   ||                       O Alt+Enter                           |  |
   ||Application Shortcut Key:  None                              |  |
   |+-------------------------------------------------------------+  |
   +-----------------------------------------------------------------+
   | Press F1 for help on Priority.                                  |
   +-----------------------------------------------------------------+

Background Priority:

Make sure the value entered in this field is equal to the value entered in the Foreground Priority field. If it does not, the nodes running in the background will run slower than the node in the foreground.

Lock Application Memory:

You want to lock the application memory so the window will not swap out of memory while your node is running. If the window swaps out of memory, the node will quit functioning.

Once you have the PIF files defined, add each node as an icon to Program Manager. Consult your Windows manual for further information on adding programs to Program Manager.

To run multiple nodes under OS/2 you will want to create program objects for each of your nodes and store them in a folder on the desktop for easy access. It is assumed you have a good knowledge of how to work with objects in the Workplace Shell environment. If this area is new to you, it is suggested that you first read the section in your manual detailing how to use the Workplace Shell.

The first place to start is to create a folder on your desktop that will hold the program objects for each of your nodes. One way of doing this is to open up your templates folder and drag a folder out to the desktop and change the name of the folder in the settings for the object. Next, you need to add a program object to this folder. As with the folder, you can drag a program object from your templates folder to the new folder. When you do, the following dialog box will appear on the screen:

 +-+------------------------------------------------------------+-+-+
 +-+-------------------------------------------------+++++------+-+-+
 | |                                                 +++++---+      |
 | |                                                  Program|      |
 | |                                                 ++------+-+    |
 | | Required                                        ||Session |    |
 | |   Path and file name:                           |++-------+---+|
 | |   +-------------------------+ +--------+        |||Association||
 | |   |                         | |  Find  |        ||++----------+|
 | |   +-------------------------+ +--------+        ||||Window    ||
 | |                                                 |||++---------+|
 | | Optional                                        |||||General  ||
 | |   Parameters:                                   ||||+---------+|
 | |   +------------------------------------+        |||||          |
 | |   +------------------------------------+        |||||          |
 | |   Working directory:                            |||||          |
 | |   +------------------------------------+        |||||          |
 | |   +------------------------------------+        |||||          |
 | | +--------+ +--------+                           |||||          |
 | | |  Undo  | |  Help  |                           |||||          |
 | | +--------+ +--------+                           |||||          |
 +-+-------------------------------------------------+++++----------+
                                                                

You can skip this screen as you will fill it in later for each object you create for your nodes. The next thing you need to do is to change some of the DOS settings for PCBoard. To do this, click on the Session tab and then click on the DOS settings box. When you do, you will see a dialogue box that resembles the screen on the following page.

+-+------------------------------------------------------------------+
+-+------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Setting:                        Value:                             |
| +---------------------------+                                      |
| |COM_HOLD                   |   * On         O Off                 |
| |DOS_BACKGROUND_EXECUTION   |                                      |
| |DOS_BREAK                  |                                      |
| |DOS_DEVICE                 |                                      |
| |DOS_FCBS                   |                                      |
| |DOS_FCBS_KEEP              |                                      |
| |DOS_FILES                  |                                      |
| |DOS_HIGH                   |                                      |
| |DOS_LASTDRIVE              |                                      |
| |DOS_RMSIZE                 |  +Description----------------------+ |
| |DOS_SHELL                  |  |                                 | |
| |DOS_STARTUP_DRIVE          |  |Use this setting to keep open a  | |
| |DOS_UMB                    |  |communications resource (for     | |
| |DOS_VERSION                |  |example, COM1) until the DOS     | |
| |DPMI_DOS_API               |  |session ends.                    | |
| |DPMI_MEMORY_LIMIT          |  |                                 | |
| +-+-------------------------+  |                                 | |
| +-+-------------------------+  +---------------------------------+ |
|                                                                    |
| +-------+ +-------+ +-------+ +-------+                            |
| | Save  | |Default| |Cancel | | Help  |                            |
| +-------+ +-------+ +-------+ +-------+                            |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

You need to change the following settings for this object to reflect the values to the right of the equal sign:

COM_HOLD         = ON
COM_DIRECT       = OFF
DOS_BACKGROUND   = ON
DOS_BREAK        = OFF
DPMI_DOS_API     = DISABLED
EMS_MEMORY       = 512
IDLE_SECONDS     = 0
IDLE_SENSITIVITY = 75
XMS_MEMORY_LIMIT = 0

Click on the Save button to store the changes you have made to the DOS settings. Next, click on the General tab so you can change the name of the object. In the Title box, enter text that will be used to identify this object. For example, you ccan enter Node in this field. To help make adding new node program objects easier, you should also click on the Template check box to make this object a template. Your screen will resemble the following:

 +-+------------------------------------------------------------+-+-+
 +-+-------------------------------------------------+++++------+-+-+
 | |       +------------------------+                +++++-----+    |
 | | Title:|Node                    |                |Program  |    |
 | |       |                        |                ++--------+    |
 | |       |                        |                ||Session |    |
 | |       +------------------------+                |++-------+---+|
 | |                                                 |||Association||
 | | +-Current icon--+ +---------------+             ||++----------+|
 | | |               | | Create another|             ||||Window    ||
 | | |  +-----+      | +---------------+             ++++----------+|
 | | |  | DOS |      | |     Edit      |               General     ||
 | | |  +-----+      | +---------------+             +++++---------+|
 | | |               | |     Find      |             |||||          |
 | | +---------------+ +---------------+             |||||          |
 | |                                                 |||||          |
 | |  V  Template                                    |||||          |
 | |                                                 |||||          |
 | | +--------+ +--------+ +--------+                |||||          |
 | | |  Undo  | |Default | |  Help  |                |||||          |
 | | +--------+ +--------+ +--------+                |||||          |
 +-+-------------------------------------------------+++++----------+

Next, close the Settings notebook to return to the Workplace Shell. Notice, you now have a new object in your folder and that it is titled whatever you entered previously. Your folder may look like the following:

     +-+---------------------------------------------+-+-+
     +-+---------------------------------------------+-+-+
     | +------+                                          |
     | | +--+ |                                          |
     | | +--+ |                                          |
     | +------+                                          |
     |   Node                                            |
     +---------------------------------------------------+
     

Next, you need to simply copy objects for the rest of your nodes. Highlight your template and drag an object out of your template for each of your nodes and place them in the folder you created. Each time you drag a copy and let go of the mouse button, you will be asked to supply the program that you wish to run. Once you have copied the objects, you need to change the following information for each of the objects:

Path and file name:

Enter the BOARD.BAT that you need to run for this node. For example, you may enter C:\PCB\NODE1\BOARD.BAT for node 1's object.

Working directory:

In this field, enter the node subdirectory for each node. For example, you may enter C:\PCB\NODE1 for node 1's object.

Once you have finished these steps, the folder you created for your nodes may resemble the following if you define four nodes:

     +-+---------------------------------------------+-+-+
     +-+---------------------------------------------+-+-+
     | +------+  +------+ +------+ +------+ +------+   +-+
     | | +--+ |  | DOS  | | DOS  | | DOS  | | DOS  |   | |
     | | +--+ |  +------+ +------+ +------+ +------+   | |
     | +------+                                        | |
     |   Node     Node:1    Node:2   Node:3   Node:4   +-+
     +-------------------------------------------------+-+

At this point, you should be able to click on any of your node objects to load the corresponding node on your system. The next step is to automatically configure OS/2 to load your nodes at startup.

Since, for the most part, your bulletin board will be unattended, you will want your nodes to automatically load when you boot your machine. This will prevent events like power outages from bringing down your system until you can manually bring up your bulletin board system. This section gives you detailed instructions for automatically bringing up your system under DESQview, Windows, and OS/2.

In order to have all of your nodes load up every time you start DESQview, you will need to use a script. The following key sequence will create a script for starting up your nodes on one machine.

Initiate DESQview's script learning mode by pressing SHIFT-ALT.

Select Start Script. When prompted for a key to define, hold down ALT while typing 255 on the numeric keypad. By assigning it to an obscure key you lower the chances of accidentally activating the script.

Give your script a name. Make sure it starts with an ! (exclamation point) or it will not be executed when you start up DESQview.

Open all of your nodes manually from the DESQview Open Window menu. When you are finished, press SHIFT-ALT and select Finish script.

Close all of the nodes you opened by selecting DOS - Not Busy from the call waiting screen.

Quit DESQview. When quitting, you will be informed you have some scripts that have not been saved and you are asked if you wish to save them. Save the scripts to a filename called DESQVIEW.DVS.

To automatically load your nodes under Microsoft Windows, simply move the icons for your nodes to the Startup folder in Program Manager. When Windows loads, it will automatically load all programs that are in your Startup folder.

Select all of your node objects (but not the node template) and hold down the CTRL key while dragging them to the Startup folder in your OS/2 System folder. The program objects will be moved to that folder. When OS/2 loads, it will execute any programs in your Startup folder.